The best browsers for privacy help protect your online identity with third-party ad blockers, VPNs, and a pledge never to sell your data.
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Services and software cover a variety of categories. Make sure the one you purchase has the features you're looking for.
Check any up-front as well as ongoing monthly costs before you make a decision. Some services have one price for a set amount of time that goes up later, while others may automatically renew you at a higher rate.
Read the privacy policy to ensure these companies are adequately protecting your user data.
Best browser for privacy overall View now View at Brave Mozilla Firefox Most secure browser for tracking protection View now View at Mozilla The Tor browser Best for anonymous browsing View now View at Tor Project DuckDuckGo Best browser for private searches View now View at DuckDuckGo Mullvad Browser Best for use with a VPN View now View at MullvadWeb browsers have become flooded with ad-sponsored content, making browsers a key battleground for end-user privacy. While Chrome is the most widely used browser in the world, there are alternative browsers and ways to improve your security available to help you stay anonymous online.
Data is one of today's key ingredients for generating revenue. Online advertising companies can use web browsing histories to fingerprint individual browsers over time, creating shadow user profiles to reveal information including a user's interests, product searches, and more -- which can lead to targeted advertising. When you look for a privacy-focused browser, you will want to investigate how advertising trackers and cookies are managed, whether or not search histories are stored or shared, and whether or not the browser developer has a transparent privacy policy in place.
ZDNET experts have kept a finger on the pulse of the secure browser market for decades and many of us have tried and tested different options throughout the years. Brave is our top pick for the best browser for privacy based on its approach to user privacy, ad tracking prevention, privacy settings, usability, and speed.
Below, you will find other recommendations for secure browsers that can protect your privacy -- not only from cyberattacks but also from businesses that scrape, store, and sell your data.
Brave is a Chromium-based browser that blocks ads, fingerprinting, and ad trackers by default.
Brave supports millions of users worldwide. The organization's business model relies on privacy-protecting ads that pay publishers and users when users pay attention to ads. The company is transparent about this revenue stream, and it is optional. Users are rewarded in crypto tokens if they opt into ad viewing.
Brave has several privacy-enhancing settings, including blocking third-party ad trackers, upgrading unsecured HTTPS connections, and blocking cookies and fingerprinting. Disabling invasive ads and trackers, the company says, improves loading times on desktop and mobile.
Brave removed Google code from its Chromium to improve user privacy, including some account integration, background sync, and inline extensions. A "Tor mode" is also available, providing anonymized onion network routing.
The browser developer also offers a VPN and firewall service that protects sessions, even outside the browser, and recently introduced a "secure" AI-based search engine.
Many users say the browser exceeds expectations, although others find some functionality, such as VPN connectivity, could use improvement.
Brave also offers a feature called "Off the Record" (OTR) for users who may be victims of intimate partner violence. The browser developer says the feature "aims to help people who need to hide their browsing behavior from others who have access to their computer or phone."
Brave features: Chromium-based | Blocks third-party ad trackers | Blocks cookies | Incognito windows | Onion routing | VPN | Off the record browsing
Show Expert Take Show lessFirefox is a must-have for individual browser privacy across multiple devices.
One of Firefox's most important privacy features is enhanced tracking protection. Mozilla has borrowed Tor techniques to block browser fingerprinting, and Firefox developers are constantly seeking to improve tracking-prevention features.
Firefox is rich with choices to customize the browser for privacy. It blocks social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, tracking in private windows, crypto miners, and fingerprinting scripts. There is a "strict" mode, too, that might break some sites when trackers are hidden in content -- but there are ways to allow enhanced tracking protection for trusted sites. Furthermore, the introduction of Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) has recently improved.
Users enjoy Firefox's privacy focus but note that it can be a resource hog.
Another option for Firefox fans is Firefox Focus, a privacy-focused browser for iOS and Android that blocks trackers and has a built-in ad blocker. Mozilla continues to work on productivity boosters and improvements to speed and performance.
Mozilla also offers a VPN ($4.99/month), with the option to connect up to five devices to over 500 servers in 30 countries.
Mozilla Firefox features: Enhanced tracking protection | Firefox Focus for mobile | Strict privacy standards | DNS queries sent to a secure resolver service | Focus on accessibility | Encrypted Client Hello
Show Expert Take Show lessAnother excellent choice for improving your privacy on the web is the Tor browser, a non-profit project focused on anonymizing users online.
Its proprietary web browser disguises a user's IP address and activity by relaying it through a network of servers (nodes) run by volunteers. Bouncing your information around makes tracking exceptionally difficult, which is excellent if you don't want your ISP or anyone else spying on your online activity.
Tor can be crucial for whistleblowers, journalists, activists, and people avoiding censorship. The Tor browser is also a popular choice for accessing the deep web: A collection of websites and pages inaccessible through traditional means, like search engines, in what is known as the "clear" web.
The Tor browser's default search engine is DuckDuckGo, which will not log or store your search queries.
While it isn't a mainstream choice, the Tor browser is well-regarded for people who don't want to be tracked across the web. The Tor Project updates it frequently, and the browser is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Users applaud the network's uncompromising approach to privacy but note slow speeds and occasional problems with Captchas.
Due to the architecture of the Tor network, page loads in the Tor browser can be slower, and some sites might not work well. Nonetheless, the Tor browser is a privacy-preserving browser worthy of consideration.
The Tor browser features: High levels of security and anonymization | Onion routing | DuckDuckGo integration | Access to websites outside of the clear web
